Each featured a veteran rocker at the peak of his ability to connect to the
audience, playing precisely the right songs and performing them precisely the
right way. And at each show, the artist played with palpable passion.

Here is why those two concerts were so much alike -- and the rest of my Top 50
concerts of the Year.

It shouldn’t be a surprise that my favorite two shows were so alike. They were
by the same performer, John Mellencamp, in February at the Academy of Music in
Philadelphia and in November at Reading’s Sovereign Performing Arts Center.

It shouldn’t be a surprise, either, then, that another artist I saw twice in
2011, Owl City — Nov. 12 at Crocodile Rock Cafe in Allentown, and June 25 at the
Mann Center for Performing Arts in Philadelphia — were my next two favorite
concerts.

While Mellencamp’s shows seared into your soul, Owl City’s shows were far more
intellectual, with the music having a lot of elements of symphonic classical
music, and his lyrics were witty, interesting and touching. But his shows,
especially the one at Croc Rock, also were fun.

What is a surprise is how many of my favorite shows this year were in smaller
venues. My eight top shows all were in venues with crowd capacities of 1,500 or
fewer.

But it was that kind of year in concerts. The huge shows were OK, but the
smaller shows shone. Musikfest’s new Steel Stage main venue at SteelStacks had
very good shows, and set attendance records, and the Allentown Fair’s lineup was
solid. But between them, only one show made my Top 10.

It was a game-changing year for small concerts in the Lehigh Valley area with
the opening of Musikfest Cafe at the ArtsQuest Center at SteelStacks .

Musikfest Cafe offered up about 125 shows in its first eight months — I attended
20, plus others at the new outdoors Levitt Pavilion. Most were good, but just
one made my Top 10. Four, however, are among my Top 50 concerts of the year.

In fairness, I missed perhaps the biggest show of the year: U2’s 360-Degrees
tour at Philadelphia’s Lincoln Financial Field. I also missed Marc Anthony at
Allentown Fair and a few Musikfest Cafe shows I wanted to see — Edwin McCain and
Marc Cohn, for example. The reviewers for those shows said they were great.

I missed Elton John — who last year played my favorite concert of the year at
reading’s Sovereign Center — at Mohegan Sun Arena at Casey Plaza because his
publicity people screwed up my ticket request.

But this year, I saw 165 concerts in 47 venues. So I’m confident I got a solid
cross-section of what came through eastern Pennsylvania.

Here are the Top 50 I saw:

1. John Mellencamp Nov. 4, Sovereign Center for Performing Arts, Reading, and,
Feb. 2 at Academy of Music, Philadelphia. More than almost any of his stylistic
forebears, or contemporaries, Mellencamp has faced aging not with the sage
understanding of a Bob Dylan or a sad searching of a Bruce Springsteen, but with
the same defiance that has always marked his music. His shows were celebrations
of that defiance: both were about two hours, with more than 20 songs each,
including nearly all his hits. In Mellencamp’s case, oh yeah, life goes on.

Owl City22. Owl City, Nov. 12 at Crocodile Rock Cafe, Allentown, and June 25,
The Mann Center for Performing Arts, Philadelphia. In a world where debauchery
is promoted as fun in hits by Katy Perry and LMFAO, it’s a pleasant surprise
that Owl City’s innocent, uplifting and orchestral songs have found
double-platinum success. It also helps that the music is sparklingly good. The
show at The Mann Center had the extra benefit of having an excellent opening set
by Mat Kearney, but by the time Owl City played Croc Rock five months later, he
had added slightly more of a rock vibe and clearly was more confident.

Lucinda Williams Live03. Lucinda Williams, Oct. 28, Symphony Hall, Allentown. In
the highlight of a strong new series of popular music shows, Symphony Hall
became a seedy dive on the swampy back road of a Southern town, where Lucinda
Williams offered up her sins and sought forgiveness in front of a crowd who
found solace in her sharing. She poured her heart out for nearly two hours.

Bryan adams34. Bryan Adams, March 13, State Theatre, Easton. The Canadian
pop-rocker played the virtually the same Bare Bones Tour set he played a year
earlier at Allentown Symphony Hall, and again, it was great. Just over two
hours, an astonishing 29 songs long, each infused with emotion, Adams seemed to
push his voice — always more passionate than pure, but remarkably well-preserved
— to the limits of its range and expressiveness.

English Beat25. English Beat, Jan. 6, Sellersville Theater 1894. Ska music
defies age, able to be played in its original form without ever sounding dated.
And The English Beat delivered the music as fresh and vibrant as if they were
showing off the 18 songs they played in 110 minutes — some 30 years old — for
the first time. And the sold-out crowd, many also 30 years older,— danced.

Snoop06. Snoop Dogg, April 27, Crocodile Rock Cafe, Allentown. He showed up more
than an hour late and played just 65 minutes. But Snoop schooled the crowded
Croc Rock in what a rapper should be. He was insanely cool, with swagger other
MCs can only wish for. At times he sang with disdain, other times laid-back and
squeezed 19 songs (some of them short) into the set. When it finally comes down
to it, he's still the Doggfather.

SteveMiller7. Steve Miller Band, April 30, Musikfest Cafe, Bethlehem. Far more
than just a concert, the inaugural performance in the Musikfest Cafe, which was
not open to the public, was a memorable celebration. But as a concert, it was
pretty memorable, too. Miller captured just the right mood for the cafe’s
first-ever show, playing his classic-rock hits, rousing electric and acoustic
blues and more with both reverence and fun.

SocialD live28. Social Distortion, Nov. 20, Sherman Theater, Stroudsburg. Social
Distortion not only is still around after nearly 40 years, but it also is making
some of the best music of its career. The show demonstrated that Social D has
aged punk rock precisely as it should have: with a sneer and guitars blazing, by
turns rebellious and reverent, current and classic.

Straight live 00009. Straight No Chaser, Aug. 11, Sands Steel Stage, Musikfest.
It took a cappella group Straight No Chaser, with Allentown native Jerome
Collins and Fork Township native Walter Chase, 3 1/2 years to finally play the
Lehigh Valley after its viral YouTube video of “The 12 Days of Christmas” mashed
up with Toto's “Africa” got it signed to a record contract. But what a
triumphant return: headlining Musikfest with a show lasting nearly two hours,
covering 22 full songs (or mash-ups of songs) and three medleys that included
parts of 26 others, running a broad variety of styles and ranging from good to
stunning.

Rod Stewart Stevie Nicks10. Rod Stewart/Stevie Nicks, April 5, Wells Fargo
Center, Philadelphia. If there’s one thing Stewart and Nicks’ show proved, it’s
that time, indeed, marches on. While Nicks turned slower, lighter and — dare I
say it, matronly — to adjust for the limitations of voice and age, Stewart
barreled forward with a damn-the-torpedoes attitude that made his set far more
enjoyable, faults and all.

LMFAO Jingle11. Q102 Jingle Ball, Dec. 8, Wells Fargo Center, Philadelphia. When
it comes to music, you can’t have too much of a good thing. But the radio
station WIOQ-FM 102.1’s Q102 Jingle Ball pushed the limit Wednesday with a show
that featured 14 performers and lasted nearly seven hours. Luckily, most of that
talent was a good thing, indeed. Electro-pop duo LMFAO put on a frenetic, fun,
high-energy set that was the highlight of the night. TV boy band Big Time Rush’s
set also was fun and enjoyable, it a bit formulaic. Gym Class Heroes also were
really good, as were solo Jonas brother Joe Jonas, Fall Out Boys font man
Patrick Stump, openers All Time Low and closers Cobra Starship and Flo Rida.
Less successful was Disney maven Demi Lovato, and Kelly Clarkson screamed her
way (sometimes sounding electronically enhanced) through her set. Avril Lavigne,
at least, was occasionally very good, but on other songs was droll and lifeless.

NKOTBSB312. Backstreet Boys/New Kids on the Block, June 5, Wells Fargo Center,
Philadelphia. Whether you liked the New Kids on the Block/Backstreet Boys
concert probably really boiled down to whether you liked the boy bands in the
first place. Because that’s what you got: two hours and 20 minutes of mostly
hits from the bands’ 1986-2002 heyday, spanning 28 full songs and snippets of at
least three others. The sold-out crowd loved it – they screamed, often
teeny-bopper style, often danced and sang along to many of the songs. And why
not? It was quite an extravaganza. And the songs were performed very well.

Campbell013. Glen Campbell, Sept. 15, University of Pennsylvania’s Irving
Auditorium. If Alzheimer’s disease is, as First Lady Nancy Reagan put it in
describing her husband, the long goodbye, Glen Campbell said farewell with the
equivalent of a warm embrace at his show. Not exactly the robust hug he might
have given at his peak, but a hint of greatness wrapped with the best of what
remains of his talent and a sharing of memories with his audience. In a
70-minute set of 18 songs, he at times flashed brilliance – even diminished,
both his vocals and guitar playing were sometimes stunningly good – and at other
times was obviously confused.

Anka014. Paul Anka, June 9, Musik at the Sands, Sands Casino Resort Bethlehem.
How great an entertainer is Paul Anka? Consider this: At the Musik at the Sands
series he played a show that was virtually song-for-song the same one he gave
just seven months earlier at the same venue – even sometimes using the same joke
lines. And yet he performed so well, singing with such a great voice and such
emotion, that the show not only was great, but somehow seemed fresh. And his
crowd – even larger this time at a sold-out 2,000 – seemed to love it just as
much.

Ginslive0015. Gin Blossoms, June 19, Sellersville Theater 1894, Sellersville.
The Gin Blossoms’ music always was beyond its years. Arising amid grunge in the
early ‘90s, it was more thoughtful and musically mature than the rest of the
landscape — helping to explain not only its runaway success, but why it still
holds up so well. More than 15 years after their commercial peak, the Gin
Blossoms as a band also are more than holding up. They showed they not only
still can deliver the music, but give a vital performance, as well.

Edwin McCain live216. Edwin McCain, March 26, Gypsie’s Nightclub, Mount Airy
Casino, Mount Pocono. Edwin McCain’s show Saturday at Mount Airy Casino’s
Gypsies Lounge and Nightclub shouldn’t have been as good as it was. He had
played Sellersville Theater 1894 just four months earlier, with a set list that
included two-thirds of the same songs. He opened with the same song, his new
“Walk With You,” and again closed the main set with his biggest hit, “I’ll Be,”
and encored with Anders Osbourne’s “The Lucky One.” But McCain’s show, 12 songs
in 85 minutes, was simply great anyway.

Willie Nelson live017. Willie Nelson, Oct. 30, Penn’s Peak, Penn Forest
Township. Anyone who goes to a concert by country music icon Willie Nelson
expecting a grand show is bound to be disappointed. Because with Willie, the
wonder is in the small things. And there were many such small (and not so small)
wonders in Nelson’s show. He played a lot of songs: 30 in a 90-minute show. He
played a lot of hits. He had a crack band. He played all his own leads. He sang
well. He had a great encore. And he hung around after the show.

Wilson Phillips218. Wilson Phillips, Dec. 9, Musikfest Café at ArtsQuest Center
at SteelStacks, Bethlehem. Wilson Phillips’s concert didn’t exactly take its
sold-out audience back to the 1990s. Nor did it offer some unexpected act into
which the trio had evolved over the two decades since it ruled the airwaves with
four No. 1 songs in a year, making it the best-selling female group of all time.
Rather, Wilson Phillips sort of simply revisited with its audience – a bit older
but all its vocal talents still marvelously intact; a bit more relaxed, but
totally without pretention and far more fun. They mixed all the hits with eight
Christmas songs and covers. Nearly all were great, and nearly all highlighted
the amazing harmonies that made the group such a hit.

19. Mat Kearney, Oct. 28, Crocodile Rock Café, Allentown. The thing that makes
Mat Kearney’s music so able to connect so deeply is its honesty. His lyrics come
from places deep inside his soul, but they convey the things in life that
everyone faces. They’re open and unvarnished, but sympathetic. And they’re
delivered in music that’s just as honest and open. Every one of Kearney’s 17
songs in his 85-minute show connected in that way. So successful was his set
that its songs were not divided into good and bad, but good and better.

Image120. Theophilus London/Friendly Fires, Oct. 25, Union Transfer,
Philadelphia. If there were record charts based on confidence and cool,
hip-hopper Theophilus London would rule the music world. Not that he won’t
anyway soon, based on his ridiculously good music. But at Philadelphia’s new
Union Transfer club, London, a 2006 Pocono Mountain East High School graduate by
way of Brooklyn, owned the stage. His 11-song, 45-minute set opened for British
dance-rock band Friendly Fires, but it was London who got the crowd of something
near 500 dancing.

21. Britney Spears and Nikki Minaj, July 30, Wells Fargo Center, Philadelphia.
Oops! she did it again. Just when reports of Britney Spears' "Femme Fatale" tour
had her lip-syncing and sleep-walking through her performance, Spears proved
that her death was greatly exaggerated with an entirely acceptable and fairly
entertaining show Saturday at Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia. Yes, she
clearly lip-synched, or sang over her own recorded voice, for much of the show,
especially during the first half of the show, which was a very choreographed
spectacle that rivaled the one Lady Gaga put on at the same arena in September.
And badly on "Up 'N Down," when she didn't even mouth the words. And yes,
Spears' body is more mature than svelte siren she used to be. And her dancing
was far more subdued and slower than at previous shows. But Spears' show offered
20 songs in 80 minutes, with the aforementioned spectacle presentation.

SugarlandFair022. Sugarland, Sept. 2, Allentown Fair. Just three weeks after
Sugarland narrowly missed a stage collapse that killed seven people at the
Indiana State Fair, the hit country duo that was building up its audience at
Allentown Fair, not only giving a triumphant performance, but setting a fair
attendance record in the process. In a show reportedly reduced in scope because
of the loss of much of its equipment in the Indiana tragedy, Sugarland’s music
filled any space. Half of the 18 songs that filled the 85-minute show could have
been the highlight at any other concert.

23. Parachute, Oct. 10, World Café Live, Philadelphia. Sometimes pop music gets
a bad shake simply because it’s, well, popular. But every once in awhile, a pop
artist such as Elton John or Billy Joel comes along, and it’s obvious there’s
far more than catchiness to its popularity. Charlottesville, Va., band Parachute
and its talented front man Will Anderson were like that. They aren’t in the
class yet of John or Joel. In fact, the band’s cover of John’s “Saturday Night’s
Alright (for Fighting)” only demonstrated how far it fall short. But in a
refreshingly good set, the band showed that not only are its songs catchy pop,
they’ve got substance and, hopefully, the staying power that will let them
develop into an artist like that.

24. Relient K, May 13, Musikfest Café at ArtsQuest Center at SteelStacks,
Bethlehem. There’s no denying it: It was unsettling at first to see pop-punk
band Relient K, known for its boundless energy and upbeat songs, playing an
acoustic show. It also was confusing, because the show hadn’t been advertised as
such. But those who remained open to the 17-song, 75-minute show eventually were
rewarded. Not only did the concert present fresh and interesting takes on some
of the Ohio-based quintet’s best songs, but it offered some truly great
highlights.

25. Colin Hay, Musikfest Café, Aug. 21, Musikfest Café at ArtsQuest Center at
SteelStacks, Bethlehem, and April 9, Keswick Theater, Glenside. Colin Hay,
former front man of Australian pop group Men at Work, did the unexpected. He
played his biggest hit, the 1981 No. 1 hit “Down Under” early in the show, and
changed it significantly, transforming it from a light radio hit into something
dark and menacing, his voice more expressive than on the original, and finished
a cappella. But even more unexpected was the rest of Hay’s sets: each a display
of vocal and guitar virtuosity, he reached hearts as he reached for the notes he
sang, plucked emotions as skillfully as he plucked the strings of his
instrument.

Script live 226. The Script, June 3, Mann Center for the Performing Arts,
Philadelphia. Sure, Irish pop-rock band The Script has songs that are catchy and
have some good hooks -- none more than "Breakeven," their huge hit from last
year. But that alone doesn't necessarily make for a great concert experience. So
why was their show so darned good? Because they did pretty much everything
right: They played good songs in a 15-song, 80-minute set, and played them
extremely well. And because they did everything they could, wringing out of
themselves a passionate-yet-fun effort that clearly pleased the crowd of 7,000
or so.

27. KISS, July 13, Mountain Laurel Center, Bushkill. KISS, for better or for
worse, has become family entertainment. That was apparent when the fire-
breathing, blood-spitting bad boy band of yore reopened Mountain Laurel
Performing Arts Center after a four-year closure. It was evident in the number
of children in the crowd, which promoters estimated at 7,000 in the
10,000-capacity venue.

28. The Sweet, July 21, Penn’s Peak, Penn Forest Township. With the band Sweet
having just one original member and its last charting single 33 years ago, it
could have been expected that its concert would have been a tribute show at
best. But who would have guessed that instead, it would be a delightful blast of
1970s music that transformed the small crowd of perhaps 300 back in time with a
performance that was enthusiastic and unapologetically authentic.

29. Chris Isaak, June 12, Penn’s Peak, Penn Forest Township, and Dec. 14,
Symphony Hall, Allentown. What a wicked game it is that Chris Isaak isn't a far
bigger hit singer than he is. Isaak offered up a voice that’s as good as Michael
Buble’s or Josh Groban’s, with a show as engaging and entertaining as – well,
maybe not Springsteen’s, but really good. And he had songs – 25 of them at
Penn’s Peak and 29 at Symphony Hall -- that were both hauntingly heartfelt and
raucously rocking.

Bruno Live 130. Bruno Mars, Aug. 30, Allentown Fair. In a day when popular music
artists such as Lady Gaga try fill their work with dark, controversial messages
and compete to outdo each other with huge stage spectacles, Bruno Mars proved
that a show is far better when it’s simply entertaining and fun. With nothing
more than an eight-man band and a good voice – and some hard work in the James
Brown style of entertaining – Mars pleased the crowd.

Bangleslive131. The Bangles, Oct. 1, Theatre of Living Arts, Philadelphia. The
Bangles were at their career peak in the 1980s, and found their inspiration in
music of the 1960s. But nearly 25 years after that peak, they were still
inspiring as a band, with the sound of both decades ringing out truly, and very
entertainingly. In the first show of a tour to promote “Sweetheart of the Sun,”
the band’s first disc in eight years, The Bangles not only recaptured what made
them hits in the 1980s, but the vibe that inspired them, as well.

Trainlive132. Train, Aug. 14, SteelStage, Musikfest, Bethlehem. Train's
closing-night show at a rain-ravaged Musikfest saw the band trying its best, in
difficult circumstances, to please a crowd that showed amazing fortitude — and
largely succeeding. Train played a 70-minute, 13-song show that, while short (35
minutes less than the band's 2006 Musikfest show) and leaning heavily on the
2009 disc, "Save Me San Francisco" (seven of the songs), hit all the highlights
and saw Monahan pull out a lot of stops. And in drenching rain, perhaps brevity
wasn't a bad thing.

33. Spin Doctors, Jan. 1, Gypsies Nightclub, Mount Airy Casino, Mount Pocono.
With 20 years of radio play behind it, Spin Doctors could very easily do a show
that faithfully replicates its hits from the 1990s with very little effort and
the crowd would love it. Instead, the band chose to stretch a bit both they and
the crowd were better for it. Yes, Spin Doctors relied heavily on its
multi-platinum 1991 debut disc “Pocket Full of Kryptonite,” with literally half
the show – six of the 12 songs the band performed in a 90-minute set – coming
from that album. But the band also offered three good songs from its little
noticed 2005 disc “Nice Talking to Me.” And the hits were anything but rote
renditions.

Paramore34. Warped Tour, July 14, Toyota Pavilion at Montage Mountain, Scranton.
The secret of the Warped Tour is finding its secrets. While shows by headliners
such as Simple Plan, Less Than Jake and 3OH!3 at the 17th annual alt music
festival are great, they’re also the most crowded and the most difficult at
which to get a good vantage point and be comfortable. The set by headliner
Paramore was so overcrowded that it was nearly impossible to move or see well –
a shame, because the band’s set was good, and enthusiastic.

35. Popped! Festival, Sept. 23-24, Temple University’s Liacouras Center,
Philadelphia. In less than 30 minutes on stage, Brooklyn indie-rock band The
Hold Steady played more great music than most bands manage in a full concert –
including any of the other 11 bands that were on the festival bill that day. The
set was the highlight of the fourth-annual festival’s first night. The second
and final day was better, with Foster The People, Girl Talk, Pretty Lights and
more.

tom petty gave some good concerts this year they were like a freakin force of nature. also remember elvin bishop? hes still kickin too
keep the fath / peace & love

Posted by marilynb 2011-12-31 23:44:03.

was a great show!

i seen it in louisville and thoroughly enjoyed the show and setlist but was #2 on my 2011 list.Sublime w/ Rome was my #1,they sounded GREAT and is such a hard sound and style to perform live.they pulled it off great.Rome was a great replacement for Bradley with great stage presence and probably would imagine more sober than Bradley.Mellencamps show was a really,really good #2!